


Bound For Freedom: A Sonic/Sally Collection

by Gojira007



Series: Bound For Freedom: The Annual SonSal Celebration [1]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comic), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types, Sonic the Hedgehog: The Animated Series
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Drabble Collection, F/M, Fanart, Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-02
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:41:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 3,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22531882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gojira007/pseuds/Gojira007
Summary: A collection of short stories from various continuities, exploring the trust and affection that binds Sonic and Sally together, through all circumstances, against all challenges.Updated daily.DAY ONE-FREEDOM: Looking back, finding the way forward.DAY TWO-PARTNERS: Debating a particular proposal.DAY THREE-FAMILY: Wondering how best to protect what we love.DAY FOUR-TRUST: Fighting against illusion.DAY FIVE-CONFLICTED: Fighting what we most fearDAY SIX-MEMORIES: A song to capture those special moments.DAY SEVEN-LAUGHTER: It really was funny, in retrospect.DAY EIGHT (Finale)-FOREVER: The one thing that will always remain.
Relationships: Sally Acorn & Sonic the Hedgehog, Sally Acorn/Sonic the Hedgehog
Series: Bound For Freedom: The Annual SonSal Celebration [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2159850
Comments: 5
Kudos: 12
Collections: Sonic Fanfics, Sonic SatAM/Sonic Archie





	1. Is There A World You Long To See?

**Author's Note:**

> Continuity: SatAM  
> Prompt: FREEDOM

“The sun’s setting….”

Sonic blinked a bit as he stepped over a broken panel. “Really?” he said with a little laugh. “We finally win the war,” he pushed aside a fallen tube, “kick Robotnik to the curb,” he ducked beaneath some loose wires, “and the first thing you have to say is-”

But he stopped himself as he saw Sally standing against the purple-orange light of the now-exposed sky. The wind was running through her hair and stirring the flag she held in her hand. And the hedgehog had to admit it looked like an image from his fondest, most impossible dream. “I’d almost forgotten,” the princess whispered, looking out across the horizon, “what it was like to watch the sun set from here.”

“Yeah…we used t’do it all the time, didn’t we?” Sonic asked as he approached her. “Feels like a life-time ago.”

“It _was_ ,” Sally answered as she looked to him. “I guess that’s why I’m taking a moment for nostalgia’s sake.” She smiled…not a happy smile exactly, Sonic could tell; it was tinged with a sense of burden the hedgehog had grown very familiar with over the years. But it was a sincere smile even so. “Because even though we’ve won…we can’t just go back. The next part will mean…” Her gaze returned to the sunset. “It will mean building something new.”

Sonic stepped toward her, again mindful of the debris at his feet. “Well heck,” he said warmly, “I think that sounds pretty exciting.”

He gave Sally a smile of his own as she looked to him again, filled with the energy and confidence she knew so well. “Look at how much we’ve _already_ done,” the hedgehog said, reaching his hand out toward her, “ _together_.”

The flag continued to blow with the wind, and Sally’s smile grew just a bit lighter. She took his hand in hers, and pulled him up toward her. “Together,” she agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of fans have That One Ship. You know the one; it carries a deep personal meaning, a special and distinct kind of emotional power and resonance. And for a bunch of reasons-nostalgia, relatability, fun, all of it tied together with my history in fandom as a whole-Sonic/Sally is mine. So last August, I ran a ship-week event for the pairing over on Tumblr: https://boundforfreedomsonsal.tumblr.com/prompts  
> With plans to do so again this year, I decided to cross-post the works I myself did for the daily prompts here, and I hope that everyone who reads them enjoys them.


	2. Oo-de-Lally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DAY TWO-PARTNERS: Debating a particular proposal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continuity: Archie (Pre-Reboot)

“Do you ever stop ‘n’ think what it’ll be like when we get married?” Sonic asked as he knocked a SWATBot over.

Sally flew through the air, twirling past laser fire as she nailed a Shadow-Bot square in the chest. “I feel like we’ve skipped a few steps here, haven’t we?” she asked wryly, landing on all fours. 

More SWATBots moved in but Sonic scarcely seemed to look at them as he zipped by, bowling each one over before it could so much as take a shot. “What, like, the proposal?” the hedgehog asked. “C’mon, Sal, _everyone_ knows that part has t’be a _surprise_!”

“I mean,” the princess laughed even as she rolled out of the way of an incoming robotic fist, grabbing onto its wrist and swiftly clambering up the arm, “when exactly did we decide we were going to get _married_?” She made her way swiftly to the head, fingers sliding in and out of the wiring of its neck until sparks began to fly out of it. “Not that I haven’t thought about it myself but I always thought the topic would scare you half to death!”

Sonic put a hand to his chest, his face and voice affecting a tone of mock-shame. “Moi?” he sputtered even as he deftly side-stepped several incoming blasts. “Scared? You _wound_ me, Sal!” He tucked into a Sonic Spin, buzz-cutting through the SWATBot firing squad handily. “Guess I never really had much doubt it’d happen _eventually_ ,” he said as he unfurled back onto his feet. “So sometimes when my mind wanders,” he paused to jump out of the way of an incoming explosive, “y’know like right now, that’s kinda where it goes.”

Hopping off the short-circuiting Shadow-Bot’s shoulders and onto the head of a neighboring SWATBot, Sally couldn’t resist a playful swoon. “Well I am quite flattered,” she sighed, forcing the ‘bot to take a shot at one of its companions. “And for the record? I do think about it quite often.”

“Bet we could convince Knux t’let us honeymoon on Angel Island,” Sonic chuckled as he kicked the explosive away, pumping his fist a bit as it landed right in the middle of a troop of incoming Shadow-Bots. 

“And the ceremony would be at the Lake of Rings,” Sally said, pulling out a wire from inside the SWATBot she was riding and sliding down its back even as it fell to the ground. “Nothing too big or fancy, just our closest friends and family…”

She and Sonic both looked at each other. “And us,” they said together.

They took each other’s hands as the distant explosion took out their remaining enemies, each appreciating the other as they were bathed in a sunny orange glow. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case the title didn't make it extra obvious, this is inspired by one of the best Marriage Proposals in all fiction: https://youtu.be/8FLYLJ9ysY0?t=54


	3. Haven In A Heartless World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DAY THREE-FAMILY: Wondering how best to protect what we love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continuity: Alternate Universe  
> Warning: Implied Parental Abuse

Sonic closed his eyes as he felt Sally’s breath fall into that calm rhythm he’d come to know and love. He ran a gentle hand through her hair; it had taken a bit of time, but at last she had fallen asleep, laid out on his lap. The hedgehog perked up, however, eyes opening at a gentle creak coming from nearby. “Hope I didn’t disturb you two…” Uncle Chuck whispered as he walked out of the house and onto the porch the couple rested on. “Just wanted t’check in, see how you’re doin’.”

Looking down, the younger hedgehog let out a little sigh of relief when he saw Sally remained asleep. “No worries, unc,” he whispered back. “We’re cool.”

“That much was never in doubt,” Chuck replied lightly. “Last I heard, you are, and I’m quoting here, ‘always cool’.”

That got an amused “tch” from Sonic. His eyes took on a gleam of worry, however, as he continued to look at Sally, still letting his hair run softly along her hair. “…gotta admit though,” he said lowly, “some ‘o’ the stuff Sal’s tellin’ me lately…some ‘o’ the stuff she _won’t_ tell me…is _really_ startin’ t’put that theory to the test.”

Chuck settled down slowly next to his nephew, folding his hands in front of his legs. “Things still goin’ rough for her at home, I take it?” he said.

“At least she’s started takin’ me up on the sleepover invites, I guess,” Sonic sighed. He felt Sally’s chest rising and falling softly against his legs. “But…I’m just gettin’ real worried for her, unc. I see the way she looks when I pick her up from work…when I drop her off at her doorstep…” _That_ man’s doorstep too, he thought grimly. “She tells me she’s OK, and I know she isn’t, and I don’t know what t’do.” His hand stopped its stroking and curled gently around Sally’s head. “Sometimes…I think I’ll just take her ‘n’ run away….”

The old hedgehog let out a little breath that bristled his moustache. “Maybe some day she’ll _let_ you,” he said, putting his hand to Sonic’s shoulder. “Until then…we just have t’keep doin’ what we’ve been doin’. Look out for her…” He looked Sonic in the eye. “Be there for her…” He put his hand on Sonic’s, where it still rested on Sally’s head. “And always let her know.”

Sonic rested his head atop Sally’s as he spoke the words he’d learned so strongly by now. “She has family here,” both hedgehogs whispered together, “and we love her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is actually a companion piece/follow-up to an even-older piece I'd done a few years prior: https://gojira007.tumblr.com/post/93757760247/sonsal-bookstore-au-c  
> I hadn't initially planned it that way, but the more the story took shape in my mind, the more it made sense.


	4. True North

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DAY FOUR-TRUST: Fighting against illusion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continuity: Archie (Pre-Reboot)  
> 

“SAL!” Sonic called out as the world around him began to fracture as if it were all made of bending glass. 

“SONIC!” she shouted back in kind. 

The two reached out towards each other on instinct, but before their hands could meet, the glass-world they stood on shattered, the pieces scattering away until all they could see…hear…feel was absolute darkness. Sally moved… _tried_ to move…but with no ground to stand on, no air to move through, she couldn’t really tell if it was working. As she continued trying, though, a biting voice cut through the darkness, seeming to come from every direction at once. **“I warned you,”** Sally recognized the voice as Infinite, the enemy she and Sonic had come to fight, **“your pitiful ‘bond’ is nothing compared to the power of the Phantom Ruby.”**

Yes…Sally remembered now. When they’d encountered the jackal, he’d taunted them about how often they were seen fighting side by side…how much they relied on each other. _“You’re right!”_ she’d retorted at the time (and she’d noticed that pleased little smile that appeared on Sonic’s face when she did). _“It’s because we_ trust _each other! But I wouldn’t expect someone like_ you _to understand a bond like_ that _!”_

It seemed that had been what set Infinite off, because unlike their previous run-ins with him, where his use of the Ruby had been precise and targeted, he’d instead unleashed an overpowering wave of its energy across the whole battlefield. **“Well?”** Infinite’s omnipresent voice growled, and Sally felt the darkness begin to pull her along like the undertow of a crashing wave. **“Go on then…show me how strong your ‘trust’ is.”** She gasped as her back seemed to slam into something hard and cold. **“Show me the power of this ‘bond’ you share!”** And then Sally felt herself falling as if gravity itself had funneled down directly on top of her. **“Or could it be that your special little ‘bond’ is just an illusion? The same as any other?”**

The princess then crashed into…the ground? No…it was flat and solid (and very painful to land on so hard)…but it wasn’t really ‘the ground’, was it? Sally tried to pick herself back up, but it was still so hard to tell if she was really moving, especially with how disoriented she now felt after what Infinite just did to her. _“But that doesn’t matter,”_ she thought. _“None of_ this _is real…but I know what_ is _.”_

She closed her eyes (and she knew she had; the darkness there was distinct from the darkness Infinite had put her in), took a deep breath, and thought. Of all the times Sonic had been there to catch her when she fell…all the times she’d bailed him out when he’d gotten in too deep…every time they’d held each other while the other was crying, or was so overjoyed they just _had_ to share it…a little kiss shared in the sleepy hours of the night…and she reached her hand out. “Sonic…” she whispered.

And then she sensed his fingers lacing with hers. She heard his voice whisper back to her. “Sally…”

And she felt him…knew that he felt her too. There for each other, the way they always were. The way they always would be.

The glass began to fall back into place, driving the darkness back as the world around them was restored.


	5. Living Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DAY FIVE-CONFLICTED: Fighting what we most fear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continuity: Archie (Pre-Reboot)  
> 

Golden fire clashed against blue steel. The ground trembled and cracked. Sonic the Hedgehog, his super form burning brightly, and the robotic soldier he knew as Sally Acorn tore all across the battlefield. “You came here to save me,” Mecha Sally said, and Sonic’s ears folded at the sound of it; the metallic distortion couldn’t disguise who it sounded like. 

The energy blade jutting from her forearm flashed as she bore it down toward her enemy. “I came to save _her_ ,” Sonic answered angrily, catching the blade. “ _You_ , I’m here to _fight_.”

“Full of contradictions as always, I see.” Mecha-Sally’s other arm swung in next with its own blade, and even as Sonic caught that one too, holding them both as tightly as he could, she continued talking. “But I can’t blame you…you simply don’t understand.” Those cold blue eyes met Sonic’s with an unnerving focus. “You never have.”

They began flying upwards then, each still struggling to break the stalemate. “You talk as if the person you came to save and the one you came to fight are somehow separate, when in fact they’re one and the same.” Sonic scowled at those words, even as his opponent showed the smallest sign of a smirk. 

He spun her around, his aura growing in intensity as he began to speed them even faster through the air. “Don’t you _dare_..!” he hissed.

But Mecha Sally’s smirk only grew. “’Yeah…I guess I can slow down for you….’”

Sonic’s face fell as he recognized his own words…from that special night he and Sally had shared together before…!

It was only a moment’s loss of focus but it was enough for Mecha Sally to take control of their momentum, flipping them around again and turning them back downward. “I remember that life. I remember those _feelings_ ,” the robot said. “And whatever joy they may have given _you_ , I remember what those things _cost_.”

They both crashed into the ground, and even as he tried to bury his feet to stop their movement Sonic could not find a proper footing. “I remember the _grief_ ,” Mecha Sally said, her voice rising with each word as Sonic felt his grip on her arms beginning to weaken. “I remember the _anguish_.” One arm slipped out of his grip. “I remember the _doubt_.”

And he began to remember those things too. He tried to block them out…tried to re-focus…but hearing that _voice_ …recognizing all the times he’d heard it just like this before…he simply couldn’t. “Why would I ever choose to go back to that existence now?” Mecha Sally asked, raising her arms for another strike. “When I have been given this gift? This _clarity_?”

The blades both came crashing down, and this time Sonic couldn’t stop them. They clashed with his protective aura, sending him flying until he crashed into a nearby cliffside.

Mecha Sally skidded to a stop, observing the rubble and smoke that emerged from where her target had landed. But even as she retracted her blades to conserve their energy, the debris began to stir. Wisps of gold peeked out from beneath, cutting through the dust. And there Sonic stood, looking right at her. Mecha-Sally paused as she met that gaze…saw the tears trickling down from them. “…I’ve let you down, Sal…” the hedgehog called out to her. “So many times.” His fists clenched. “But no matter how bad it got…no matter what happened…” The light around him sparked and flared. ”The Sally I know…the Sally I _love_ …never _ever_ gave up.”

Golden fire clashed against blue steel. The ground trembled. Sonic the Hedgehog looked at Sally Acorn as they raced towards each other again. “And neither will I.”


	6. A Rock Down Memory Lane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DAY SIX-MEMORIES: A song to capture those special moments.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continuity: Archie (Pre-Reboot)  
> (Alternate Title: A Full Time Job Admiring All The Ways That You're Inspiring)

Sally really wasn’t sure what to expect when she took her seat in front of the empty stage. Sonic had only told her he had a “special surprise” planned for their anniversary. “Well howdy there, Sally-girl!” Bunnie Rabbot greeted from the seat next to her.

“Hello Bunnie,” Sally replied with a raised brow and a wry grin. “I don’t suppose _you_ know what this is all about?”

“We _both_ do, actually.” The princess looked to her other side to see Nicole materialize in a small flurry of holographic pixels. “I helped to arrange it, in fact.”

“But that don’t mean we’re tellin’,” Bunnie said as she nudged Sally in the side. “Just consider us part ‘o’ the attraction.”

With a slight roll of her eyes, the squirrel leaned back in her seat. “Whatever _that’s_ supposed to mean.” She folded her arms in front of her chest, letting her eyes wander upwards. “Alright you two, _have_ your fun,” she chuckled. “I just hope whatever Sonic has in mind-”

The thought was left unfinished as the lights on the stage began to dim, and before they fell into complete darkness Sally could not miss the clear anticipation on both her friends’ smiling faces. That darkness held for a moment, and then with a sharp guitar riff the princess found herself at the center of a bright spotlight shining from the stage.

 _“YOU!”_ she heard Sonic’s familiar voice sing out. 

The hedgehog himself appeared on stage shortly after with a spotlight of his own, a familiar red guitar in his hands as he struck its chords with as much passion as he could. _“Look at everything you are!”_

Sally’s eyes widened just a bit as the backdrop behind Sonic began to light up and one by one images began to appear…all of her. Smiling, laughing, rolling her eyes, crying, sighing, grinning, chuckling…the princess recognized each and every one. Each special little moment, each one another little memory she shared with Sonic.

 _“Look at everything you do!”_ he continued to sing, striking the guitar again, and as the note reverberated the pictures changed, but still Sally recognized them. The first time she’d said “I love you” to him…teasing him about the mission they’d just managed to complete…falling asleep in each other’s arms by the lake of rings… _“It’s incredible, as incredible as you!”_

Again Bunnie nudged her side, a bit more gently this time. “He’s right y’know,” she whispered as the song continued. “You really are somethin’ special, Sally-girl…s’why Sugah-’Hog invited us along.”

Nicole placed a hand to Sally’s shoulder. “He wanted today to be a celebration, not just of how much he loves you, but a reminder of just how wonderful we all know you are.”

Sally took her hand, and Bunnie’s too, and watched the ever-shifting pictures on stage as Sonic continued to play his guitar with all his heart. “Believe me,” she said warmly as her eyes began to water, “after tonight? It’ll be pretty hard to forget.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lyrics Sonic sings are an excerpt from this lovely piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMvmsl8T7Kg  
> And each pic used here is actually based on real panels/covers from throughout the comic's history; I wonder if any sharp-eyed viewers will recognize any of them.


	7. Nothing To Crow About

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DAY SEVEN-LAUGHTER: It really was funny, in retrospect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continuity: Archie (pre-reboot)

“I hate that laugh,” Sally grumbled.

Sonic, still kicking nuts and bolts out of his shoes, looked over at her with a raised brow. “Run that one by me again, Sal?” he said.

“That _laugh_ ,” the princess, combing some loose gear out of her hair, replied. “You know the one. I _hate_ it.”

At first Sonic was about to try and get some clarification, but as he scanned the towering pile of broken-up Badniks he and Sally stood on top of, he noticed which one was at the bottom, “Wait, _Scratch’s_ laugh?” he said. “Like, haHA haHA?” 

Groaning again, Sally pulled annoyedly at her ears. “Ugh that’s the one _exactly_ ,” she said. “Like nails on a chalkboard put through a loudspeaker!” 

The hedgehog tried to hold it in, but he couldn’t help letting out a big old laugh of his own. “So let me see if I got this straight,” he said. “This _whole_ fight started…” He had to pause to fight back another guffaw. “…because Scratch laughing ticked you off?”

Ears folding and cheeks growing red, Sally’s eyes shifted pointedly away from Sonic. “…I mean…” she muttered, “not…completely…?” She could feel the smug smile on Sonic’s face. “…buuuuuuuuuut mostly.”

There was no more holding it in after that. Sonic began to laugh harder and harder, holding his sides as it grew louder and louder. “Oh man,” he wheezed out when he could manage, “Ohhhhhh man that is _amazing_!”

Sally rubbed her arm, smiling a bit awkwardly but still looking away…until she found herself scooped up in Sonic’s arms. He spun her around a little bit, still laughing. “I thought _I_ was feisty,” he said, “but you? Sal, you are the absolute _best_!”

The princess finally met his gaze again at that, blinking a bit. And seeing the sincerity in his eyes…the warmth in his smile…in spite of herself she started laughing too. “I guess it _is_ pretty amazing,” she said. “Maybe I should get a mix-tape of him laughing to help motivate me next time?”

That got Sonic laughing again, which in turn got Sally laughing even harder. And at the bottom of the scrapheap, listening to them growing more and more gleefully amused, Scratch could only let out a long, pained groan. 


	8. Not Fade Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DAY EIGHT (Finale)-FOREVER: The one thing that will always remain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continuity: Various

Everything was white light. The air was somehow cool and warm all at once, soothing and yet disorienting. It almost felt like moving in water, a feeling of constant but subtle resistance, and yet there was a weightlessness to it as well. Sally had never experienced anything quite like it before. Her mind tried to make sense of it all…tried to take control of the swirl of thoughts and memories that seemed to slip around uncontrollably through her head. She’d been…shot? No, no…roboticized, that was what had happened to her. And she had been fighting…

“Sal?”

The voice was an echo but Sally somehow knew exactly where it was coming from, turning face to face with the one thing in this whole place that felt grounded…the one thing she knew was right. “Sonic!” 

He too seemed to be floating in the great white light, but he had a knowing look in his eyes…a strange, sad smile. “You’re OK…” he whispered, reaching out to her.

“Of course I am,” she replied, gently taking hold of him. She gasped a little bit; his body…it was almost like touching a cloud, there and not there at the same time. “But what about _you_? What _is_ this place?” She tried not to sound afraid as she finished. “What’s happening to us?”

“It’s not us,” he said. “It’s _everything_. I’ve seen it before but…not like this….”

Somehow those words made it clear…even as her head was trying to wrap around it, the princess’ heart knew now. “So…that’s it then…” she said. “This is the end…?”

“ _An_ end,” Sonic said strongly, taking Sally’s hand; it wasn’t cloud-like now…it was firm and real. “But that’s just where the next beginning comes from, right?”

She had to laugh a little. “I seem to recall that’s _my_ line.”

He held her hand just a bit tighter. “Yeah, and I listened to it real good.”

The light somehow seemed to grow more intense, the air just a bit thicker. “Promise you’ll remember me…?” she whispered gently, pressing her head against his.

Sonic grinned. “No can do, Sal.” In her mind’s eye the princess saw him…the way he’d been as a boy. The way he’d been during their first year in the forest. With green eyes, with brown. “’Cuz it doesn’t matter what’s on the other side here.” She saw herself too. With black hair, with blonde. In a vest, with rings on her wrists. “You ‘n’ me?”

He let go of her hand, stepping away. “That’s always.”

The hedgehog held his fist out to her, that ever-present fire in his eyes as he smiled at her.

Sally smiled right back, finally feeling as if there was something under her feet. “Always,” she replied with a nod, pressing her own fist to his.

The world began to change. The light began to break. And they stood together.

**Author's Note:**

> A lot of fans have That One Ship. You know the one; it carries a deep personal meaning, a special and distinct kind of emotional power and resonance. And for a bunch of reasons-nostalgia, relatability, fun, all of it tied together with my history in fandom as a whole-Sonic/Sally is mine. So last August, I ran a ship-week event for the pairing over on Tumblr: https://boundforfreedomsonsal.tumblr.com/prompts  
> With plans to do so again this year, I decided to cross-post the works I myself did for the daily prompts here, and I hope that everyone who reads them enjoys them.


End file.
